The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) oil output is likely to reach its record in July, a Reuters survey found. Supply from OPEC has risen to 33.41mb/d in July from a revised 33.31mb/d in June, according to the survey based on shipping data and industry sources.

The reason of the output increase is that Iraq pumps more crude and Nigeria manages to export additional oil despite militant attacks on oil installations. In July, oil production in Iraq reached its peak of 90,000b/d that was exported from its southern and northern ports.

Further, Iran has contributed to boosting the output even though the country was reported to have pumped merely 20,000b/d of additional crude, Hellenic Shipping News wrote.

Meanwhile, top OPEC exporter Saudi Arabia has kept output close to a record high too, the survey indicated.

The Saudi production stood at 10.50mb/d as the kingdom sought to meet its seasonally higher domestic demand. Riyadh currently focuses on maintaining its market share rather than trimming supply to boost prices.

The increase in OPEC production has thus added to downward pressure on prices.